Arsenal have their padded seats in the ground which is a long way from the hard wooden seats of Fulham. When all clubs get similar Arsenal style seats, I predict the end of football as we know it. The dug outs is just the warning.

I'm not familiar with this fellow, but having just Google-ed him is this the bench at Western Sydney Wanderers? If so, it's impressively low key for this day in age. Shinji conjures up the image of a wallflower just arriving at a busy barbeque.

I've never really understood the concept of the dugout, I realise that it means the coach or manager is close to the action and can communicate with the players but the view must be the worst in the stadium, I never understood how on earth they were supposed to see what was going on.

Still, when we had proper dugouts there was always the bonus of seeing managers accidentally smack their heads when celebrating a goal or getting irate.

I've a vague recollection of Coventry's old Highfield Road ground having a dugout / subs' bench that resembled an air raid shelter with a sort of look-out lid on top where the manager could peer through a gap in the roof at activities on the pitch. I've Googled it and can't find any images though. Perhaps I'm imagining it.

I recall that I went to see DC United v Columbus in 1997 or 98 and they didn't have those plexyglass canopy thingies. It pissed down rain really hard for about 30 minutes and the subs and coaches just had to sit there getting dumped on looking miserable. They got some of those later, but not for a few years, as I recall.

I have noticed that Arsene Wegner's throne looks like a seat taken out of a Bentley or somesuch.

I think there probably something to be said for nice dugouts. If a player or coach isn't thinking about how much their back or ass hurts or how wet and coled they are, they're better able to focus.

In baseball and hockey, the dugouts/benches are often built such that personel can directly access the clubhouse from the bench (although that's not true in all minor league stadiums). I'd think that would make sense in soccer. It certainly would make it easier for the trainers.

I recall that I went to see DC United v Columbus in 1997 or 98 and they didn't have those plexyglass canopy thingies. It pissed down rain really hard for about 30 minutes and the subs and coaches just had to sit there getting dumped on looking miserable. They got some of those later, but not for a few years, as I recall.

Perhaps that's why the A-League has gone down the 'plastic chair' road. MLS is what they aspire to in many ways. I still don't understand why coaches and subs need to be out in all weather; Australia gets some very heavy downpours during Summer (when the A-league is played).